Published 18:45 IST, June 12th 2020
Rajasthan whip writes to Anti-Terror squad alleging horse-trading of MLAs pre-RS polls
Rajasthan chief whip Mahesh Joshi, on Friday, has written to the state Anti-Terror Squad (ATS), alleging horse-trading of MLAs ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls
- India News
- 3 min read
In a last-ditch attempt, Rajasthan chief whip Mahesh Joshi, on Friday, has written to the state Anti-Terror Squad (ATS), alleging that certain 'anti-political' entities were involved in horse-trading of MLAs ahead of the Rajya Sabha's biennial elections. He alleged that these kind of horse-trading attempts indicated at money laundering activities by these entities and must be investigated. On one hand, Congress has claimed that it is confident to win two of the three Rajasthan seats in the Rajya Sabha, on the other, it has gathered all its 107 MLAs in a resort in Jaipur and is scheduled to keep them there till June 18.
Raj Whip writes to ATS
Dy CM Sachin Pilot: 'Our MLAs are united'
On Thursday, Rajasthan Deputy CM Sachin Pilot asserted that all the MLAs of the ruling coalition were united and would ensure a comfortable victory for the two Congress candidates in the upcoming the Rajya Sabha polls. Recalling that horse-trading had taken place in other states before the RS elections, he maintained that any such attempt in Rajasthan would be futile. He has also stated that all 170 MLAs were called to a resort as there was no other venue to meet amid lockdown.
On Wednesday, Congress MLAs were moved to a resort to reportedly prevent horse-trading attempts. Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot alleged that some of the Congress MLAs were offered Rs.25 crore each by BJP with sources reporting that 23 Congress MLAs might defect to BJP. Congress has nominated KC Venugopal and Neeraj Dangi as its candidates, while BJP has fielded Rajendra Gehlot and Onkar Singh Lakhawat for the polls to be held in Jaipur on June 19.
In the assembly of 200, the Congress has 107 MLAs, including six who defected to the party from the BSP last year. The party enjoys the support of 12 of the 13 Independent MLAs in the state. While BJP has 72 MLAs and RLP has 3 MLAs.
EC announces new Rajya Sabha poll dates
On June 1, the Election Commission announced that the polls for 18 Rajya Sabha seats which were deferred due to Coronavirus, will be held on June 19 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The counting of the votes will be done on the same day at 5:00 PM. The 18 seats belong to the states of Andhra Pradesh (4 seats), Gujarat (4 seats), Jharkhand (2 seats), Madhya Pradesh (3 seats), Manipur (1 seat), Meghalaya (1 seat) and Rajasthan (3 seats). The polls which were to be held on March 26 were the seats whose term was expiring on March 30. This year, 55 Rajya Sabha seats fell vacant by April 2020 - 37 of which has been elected unopposed already.
Updated 18:45 IST, June 12th 2020
